Lehman Brothers

[usmc_nam_vet]

The ceo of Lehman Brothers received a 22 1/2 million dollar bonus for turning down a buy out offer that would have saved the company and doing nothing while Lehman Brothers went into bancrupsy. This doesn't count the board of directors salary. I feel highly qualified to assume the leadership of one of these companies and would not even require a salary. Just give me the bonus.

 

[Adrian Wainer]

I would not feel qualified to comment on a US company, but criticism has been made in the past in the UK ( I don't know whether it is still the case ) that it is a not unusual practice for the salary review officers, to be also the like of senior officers of other companies, thus generating an unspoken scratch my back and I'll scratch your's friendly and informal arrangement in which people would be appearing one another's salary review boards and returning the favour of awarding generous remuneration packages.

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

 

[echrada]

The ceo of Lehman Brothers received a 22 1/2 million dollar bonus for turning down a buy out offer that would have saved the company and doing nothing while Lehman Brothers went into bancrupsy. This doesn't count the board of directors salary. I feel highly qualified to assume the leadership of one of these companies and would not even require a salary. Just give me the bonus.

I have to agree with you - for the bonus I will probably run it at a profit.

 

[Nez]

American International Group (AIG),according to reports,has "just one day" to sort out it's debt,or 116,000 jobs go down the toilet.Lending billions,to people who cannot afford to "pay back",from over a decade ago,has come home to cause "catastrophe".

Here in the UK,the main banks are "pumping" billions into the world markets,to shore up the financial mess that big institutions now find themselves in.What a disaster!!!

 

[Fumz]

One of my Dad's favorite expressions was, "Son, don't cut off your nose to spite your face".

For years and years I never understood what he meant by that. It wasn't until I was an adult with some life experience that the meaning of his words began to sink in. Even though he's long since departed this world, I can still hear him clear as day. He had a lot of expressions like that... turns out they were all universal truths. Gosh he was a smart guy... and I miss him. My biggest fear is that I will forget some of them or that some day his voice won't be so clear?

Despite clear and compelling evidence to the contrary that deregulation isn't always a good thing, we American's have, for the last 30 years, bought into the same tired line of dung coming from the same people. Why this happened, for anyone who's been paying even the least bit of attention, is obvious. That's not even a question... but I'm sure the spin-meisters will be hard at work all week long telling us why it was not the policies of those in control...

I'm half torn here. One the one hand, I'd seriously like to see real change in the way America operates. On the other hand, pfff... I'd like to see all those who voted in this catastrophe decade after decade get their just rewards. My wife and I can always move to Canada or Europe (europe my choice, belgium; canada my wife's).

As an example: less than 10 years ago Tom Delay and Joe Lieberman decided to get together and build an inferior mouse trap. Financially motivated to do so, they decided that less regulation was a good thing and lobbied all their Congressional counterparts to support their idea: that less stringent accounting standards promote "economic growth". What did this inferior "mousetrap", ie, less stringent accounting standards produce? Enron. Enron was just the first domino in a long, long line.

Gee... I really just can't fathom how this happened? How is it that an inferior mouse trap left us infested with mice?

Ideology is fine, but if you buy into it at the expense of you and your familiy, you have just cut your nose off, and you deserve what you get.